Jeff Molloy
Fachada Cubana (The Cuban Façade)
At 2260 Oak Bay Avenue
May 7 - 28, 2011
Preview: May 10 - 14, 2011
(work subject to prior sale)
OPENING RECEPTION
SUNDAY MAY 15, 2011 1pm-5 pm
Jeff Molloy in attendance.
Fachada Cubana, Jeff Molloy's portrayal of Cuba begins with the impoverished materials used in its making. Burlap sacks, old rags, blankets, pieces of twine and bits of debris collected in Cuba with a colourful icing of plaster and encaustic glazed over a hidden truth.
Escombros, the first of two series, focuses on the severely eroded walls of Havana. Unlike the crumbling Venice where people live their lives out loud, Cuba presents plaster and cinder block walls with barred windows and handleless doors. While Havana slowly turns to dust, many Cubans live out their lives in its ruins.
Torta Cubana, the main series, evolved from seeing on numerous occasions, highly decorated cakes whisked through the streets of Havana. Cake is a suitable metaphor for the facade presented in Cuban travel literature; behind the colourful fronts the real Cuba plays out in private. This is a land of secrets and suspicions where black magic and animal sacrifice are still practised. Cuba is a place where Santeria Priestesses dress entirely in white and families of political prisoners proudly display symbolic white Canaries in wooden cages.
The Bird Cage, one of the two larger works in the exhibition, focuses on the superstitious lore of Santeria, a religion brought to Cuba by African slaves. To some Cubans the caged white Canary represents an imprisoned family member. They believe that the eventual release of the bird will hasten the release of their loved one.
Using some of his signature “ouverature” techniques, Jeff‘s other large piece, The Cuban Facade, literally opens to reveal an interior image of a hat and trinket shop circa 1959.
Molloy has been referred to as a farmer of art. He creates multi-dimensional, multi-sensory works that bring emotion to the people who experience them and energy to the spaces they inhabit.